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The CPA PE Playbook: Private Equity 2026 Outlook & Strategy Guide
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The Definitive Guide to Private Equity’s Transformation of the CPA Profession
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By CPA Trendlines Research
The accounting profession is changing faster than at any time in its modern history—and private equity is driving the shift. More than $30 billion in new capital has entered CPA firms since 2020, igniting a powerful wave of consolidation, modernization, and strategic reinvention. Firms that once relied on incremental growth and traditional partnership structures are now operating as high-performance platforms built for scale, technology adoption, and national reach.
The CPA PE Playbook is the most comprehensive analysis available today on this historic transformation.
If you want to know where the profession is heading, how PE-backed firms are competing, and what it will take to thrive in the next decade, this is the report you need.
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How to Merge Two Solo Accountants
A list of 21 issues to consider.
By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide
When considering a merger of sole practitioners, there are numerous critical issues to negotiate. Twenty-one, in fact.
MORE by Marc Rosenberg
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1. Method/system for splitting the profits. Keep in mind that if you devise a system that essentially revolves around making each solo a profit center, as if they still had their own firms, it will tend to discourage the two of you working together as one firm.
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Knowledge Has More Value Than Hours
The convergence of trends makes pricing changes imperative.
By Jody Padar
Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA
The speed of change is faster than ever. How are you going to react to it? That’s what I’m really preparing you for – redesigning your entire business model to become a more client-centric advisor. Value-based pricing models are the key component but not the whole story.
MORE by Jody Padar
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Today’s automation, new competitors, staffing challenges and new technologies are conspiring to bring clients more value than they could have enjoyed before. All of it is shifting the way you need to think about your services, what clients value and how you get paid fairly for the expertise you bring to the table.
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What It Takes to Make It to Partner
Four responses from our expert council.
By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership
The skill in producing financial reports is limited by the quality of the information presented to the CPA by the client. The motivation of the client to influence that financial information comes in many forms, some intentional and some unintentional. Competence comes first in being able to resist pressure and present a true and accurate position of the client’s organization.
MORE by Martin Bissett
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Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But there’s a twist.
Competence doesn’t actually rank highly among the requirements for partners in our study at all.
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Deal Tracker: PE Platforms Accelerate the Grab for CPA Firms
Dealflow this year is running three times hotter than year-ago.
By CPA Trendlines Research
The CPA Trendlines PE-CPA Deal Tracker™ logged 31 transactions in January 2026 and 21 in February — a combined 52 deals in the first two months of the year. The comparable figure for January–February 2025 was 16. Year over year, the pace has more than tripled.
MORE Private Equity | PE Deal Tracker Update: Alan Whitman Plants a Flag in the Private Equity Landscape | Jody Padar: The New Playbook Is AI-Powered and Human-Centered | Big 4 Transparency | Jeremy Dubow: Raising the Bar for Talent | Big 4 Transparency | Poe: What P.E. Really Wants from Firms | The Disruptors |
January’s 31-deal total is the highest single-month figure in the tracker’s history, spanning more than 340 transactions dating back to 2016. The prior five Januarys combined — 2021 through 2025 — produced 24 transactions. January 2026 exceeded that five-year total on its own.
With Apax Sale, CohnReznick Starts Building a National Platform
First rollup: Smith Schafer & Associates.
By CPA Trendlines Research
CohnReznick has closed its funding deal with Apax Partners, formally planting one of the world’s largest private equity firms inside the upper tier of the U.S. accounting profession.
MORE Private Equity
The transaction, three years in the making, positions Apax as the majority owner of CohnReznick’s non-attest business, while the firm’s audit and attest services remain separate.